Regenesis
by Renolvr
Summary: A year on after Deepground and people are piecing their lives back together. Shinra is establishing itself as a power again, but his job isn't the same as it had been before, either is his life; Reno has to change and move on along with everyone else.


**_A/N:_ Hi there :) Firstly, the title 'Regenesis' has nothing whatsoever to do with Genesis Rhapsodos. I took it from the WRO; the World Regenesis Organisation. Regenesis means 'rebirth', 'renewal'. It's been a while since I've written anything new. I was reading one of my twin sister's fics Life Isn't Fair and decided I wanted to do a fic that revolved solely around Reno, without the distraction of Sephiroth or the Remnants or warfare etc. I also recently watched scenes from Before Crisis on youtube and I have a whole new appreciation for Reno's character. He actually screamed when Tseng 'executed' Veld and Élfe. He was down on his knees crying out, demanding an explanation from Tseng. I would recommend anyone to watch it, it has made me realise just how complex a character Reno actually is.**

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Why did he always get stuck with the babysitting jobs? He was a highly trained and capable Turk, and yet he'd been landed with the role of tour-guide for the morning. Why hadn't the President told Elena to do it? She was better suited to showing newbies around; he had neither the patience nor the inclination to explain things properly to new employees. He much preferred the sink or swim method; if you couldn't keep up, you sank.

Complaining would get him nowhere though, it was his turn; they'd all been stuck with tour-guide duty in the last few weeks. Shinra had just opened their new building in Edge and were accepting applications. They'd received countless applications, but most of the applicants had been young and inexperienced. Any of the older and more suitable people out there still bore a grudge against ShinRa. They still associated Shinra with the company who had been responsible for Midgar's downfall. However, while they shared the same name, this incarnation of the company was doing its best to distance itself from its predecessor.

It had been working, people had been slowly accepting Rufus' ShinRa into their lives, particularly after the whole ordeal with the Remnants and Geostigma; but any progress they had made had been undone with Deepground's arrival. Despite the old President being the one responsible for Deepground, Shinra received the blame. A year had passed since Deepground had been dealt with, but people weren't as forgiving as they once had been.

Most of the applicants had been turned away; Shinra didn't have the time or the personnel available to teach inexperienced youngsters. They barely had enough Turks as matters stood. A few others had returned after Deepground, but the majority who had defected with Veld and after Meteor had stayed away, content with the new lives they had. Junon had begun to take in recruits again, for both Turks and ordinary infantrymen; the SOLDIER program would never see the light of day again. It was to remain buried in the ruins of Midgar.

Shinra was still low on personnel, particularly office workers and the likes. Reeve had stepped in after the President had explained the lack of fitting applicants, the WRO commander had offered one of his own employees; she had operated as a liaison between the WRO and the public during the whole Deepground saga. Reeve had highly recommended her. The President had agreed to meet with the woman, and had quickly offered her a job within Shinra. She was supposed to be starting today, which was why he had been landed with babysitting her and showing her the run of the building.

For someone with such high recommendations, she obviously lacked the ability to read a clock; she was already fifteen minutes late. Reno groaned as the door to the lobby opened; several people entering the building, including the woman he was waiting on; there went the possibility of getting off the hook. Tseng had already given him the woman's employee record, he was supposed to read over it and familiarise himself with her details…he'd learned her name, what she looked like and just skimmed over the rest.

"AJ Rees…you're late."

So much for just slipping into an office, first day and she was already in the bad books. She hadn't intended on being late, not that people usually did. She had even forced herself to get up early, but things had just run into each other along the way. This was a good job and a good opportunity for a new life in Edge, Rufus ShinRa had come across as well-meaning and understandable during her interview, but he still had a business to run and late employees didn't help that matter.

AJ glanced up, expecting to see the company President or Reeve waiting on her, but instead she found herself staring at a Turk. The first thing she noticed was the colour of his hair, the second was his obvious disdain for the company's dress code. She wanted to argue her case; how could he criticise her for being late when he couldn't iron a shirt? But the words wouldn't come out; instead, all she managed was a feeble mumble as her cheeks turned the same colour as his hair. It didn't matter if he knew how to use an iron or not, he was still wearing a Turks uniform; she had heard enough about the suited department to know arguing with a Turk wouldn't get her very far.

"I…um…it won't happen again."

Reno cocked an eyebrow as he strolled towards the woman, taking note of her reddening face and stuttered response; he hadn't meant to actually embarrass her. He may have been cursing her tardiness only moments before, but it wasn't as if he was genuinely angry with her. She hadn't landed him with the role of tour-guide, though if she was this easy to embarrass, he should be wary of what to say around her. He flashed her one of his cheeky smirks as he walked on ahead, feeling guilty for taking his bad mood out on her when it was only her first day.

"Hey, forget about it, timely arrivals aren't exactly my strength."

AJ nodded quickly and fell into stride with the lanky Turk, relief washed over here as she felt the heat dissipate from her cheeks; maybe things weren't so daunting after all. Edge itself was far more intimidating that she had imagined, but its people were extremely welcoming and helpful. She assumed Midgar's downfall had taught them all a valuable lesson in how to live their lives. Kalm had increased in size and population following Midgar, but its population had been greatly dented by the antics of Deepground; people were still struggling to rebuild and get their lives back on track.

Most of the people in Kalm now worked for either shops or bars within the town, or else had applied for a position in Shinra. Shinra's decision to decline many of the applications had won the company no favour in Kalm, and yet here she was following one of its Turks around the impressive building. People back home would just assume she had applied and not told them, but she hadn't. She had been content with her job in the WRO, until Reeve had pulled her aside and told her how he had recommended her for a position within Shinra.

It hadn't been her choice to move career and home initially, but she hadn't fought against it either. Shinra offered a larger wage than the WRO, and although she didn't like to sound conceited, money had played a factor in her decision to accept the job.; Reeve knew that too, which was why he had recommended her for the post. She had other responsibilities too, and Edge held more opportunities than Kalm ever would.

Reno watched the woman from the corner of his eye as they stepped through a door; he was still feeling unusually guilty for embarrassing her earlier; usually he would have delighted in such a thing. But she seemed to have enough on her plate without his sense of humour adding to it. He'd only known her ten minutes and he could tell she was stressed out; she was in for a shock if she was stressed out now, just wait until she saw Shinra in full-swing.

Her job would entail going between all departments and taking orders from the President directly, yet he still reckoned she had got the easier side of things. The Turks would be receiving their first batch of recruits, fresh from Junon mid-week. He wasn't looking forward to it; youngsters taking up the staff accommodation, lying on his sofa in the lounge, eating his food from the fridge, field missions and mock missions…he just was not looking forward to all that would undoubtedly go wrong.

Reno shook his head as he thought about all the mission reports he'd actually have to fill out; paperwork wasn't his strength either, he hated it with a vengeance. Another shake of his head to rid the foreboding thoughts and he turned back to face AJ, still walking backwards as he handed her a card and phone, another of his flirtatious smirks finding its way to his mouth as he explained.

"ID Card; it has your picture, employee number, clearance level and your position on it. The lobby is open to the public, but you'll need your card to access any floors above it. Staff issue mobile; staff numbers are already in it, you'll get messages and emails from the company and other employees from time to time. If you break it, don't freak out, just go to Elena or tell me … they're actually a lot easier to break than you think, trust me on that one."

There was that smirk again, she couldn't help but smile as she took the card and phone from the Turk. He seemed so nonchalant about things, she wondered how he had made it into the Turks. Reeve had already briefed her on the main staff members in Shinra, including the four core Turks who had remained with the company during and after Meteorfall; Tseng, Elena, Reno and Rude. She had been aware of Tseng's name and his role as commander of the Turks, she had seen Rude during her interview with Rufus Shinra, so she guessed this lanky red-head was Reno.

"So how come you were late anyhow?"

"Other responsibilities…"

Reno blinked at the woman's quick answer; way to give an answer without actually giving one. Maybe she was suited to dealing with issues between Shinra and the public. But that still didn't satisfy his curiosity, he'd had to wait, surely he deserved an answer?

"Vague."

AJ bit back a smile as she tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, that smirk was back on again, almost taunting her to try and keep a straight face. This was turning into a rather eventful morning already. The young woman fought the urge to smirk as she walked on ahead of her guide, in spite of the fact that she had no clue where exactly she was going.

"Maybe I don't want to go spilling all my private details to a random stranger?"

So that's the way she wanted to play it? He could match that, no problem. Reno thought back as he caught up with AJ, trying his best to recall whatever details he'd managed to skim from her file the night before. He stopped and placed an arm against the wall of the corridor to bar her way, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling as he sorted out details in his head. He waited another moment before glancing down the inches that separated their heights, a cocky smirk already pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"Details? You're twenty-four, worked for the WRO since Reeve started it up, born and raised in Kalm, you have a father, mother and older brother. You're qualified to analyse mission strategies, but you don't like doing so since Deepground, and prefer to liaise between departments and the public…did I leave anything out?"

"Yeah, you did…my parents died from Geostigma and my brother was killed during the war with Deepground."

Reno groaned inwardly as the smirk fell from his face; that hadn't been the way he'd imagined the conversation going in his head. He dropped his arm as AJ pushed past it, her eyes locking onto the floor as she walked on, but he'd already noticed the tears brimming her green eyes. This was why he didn't like getting the babysitting jobs, he didn't know the person well enough to know where boundaries lay. Elena was way better at this kind of thing. He felt like kicking himself, it was only her first day and he'd managed to hit a touchy subject and upset her. Tseng would kill him one of these days and right now he could understand why.

Back in Midgar, he wouldn't have given her reaction a second thought. He would have probably got another smart comment or two in. But things were different now. Back then, Shinra had been a name all had feared and none had wanted to affront; a far cry from today. People were still damaged and hurt because of Shinra, their lives and families had been ripped apart and destroyed, along with their way of living; they all had to find a new way to move on, both the people and Shinra itself.

"AJ, hold on."

She stopped as he spoke lowly; she didn't want to be upset on her first day here. It wasn't his fault, how was he supposed to know about them? It wasn't as if it had only happened yesterday or she had been the only victim; a lot of people had lost their loved ones to Geostigma and the Deepground war. She knew that and she was usually good at dealing with her emotions, but it just tended to catch her off-guard every so often.

AJ waited until the tears that had been threatening to fall had disappeared before she looked back up to Reno. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting; a smug smile, a cocky tone and smart comment. She hadn't known the man long, but she already had a grasp for his character. She was surprised to notice genuine concern in his eyes; the same blue eyes that had been devious only moments before. She didn't know why, but she felt her cheeks reddening again as she broke eye contact; first day and she had already threatened to go cry in a corner, the embarrassment she'd felt earlier was nothing compared to now.

"You okay?"

She smiled quickly, nodding her head as she pushed thoughts to the back of her mind; all of that could stay in Kalm. She had moved to Edge to start over and get on with her life, not wallow in memories.

"I'm fine…let's start over?"

He held her gaze for another moment, ensuring that she was actually okay; he didn't want Elena on his back later for upsetting the newbie. He'd already managed to embarrass and upset AJ in record time; he dreaded to know how his briefing with the Turk recruits would play out; there was a huge difference between the academy and Shinra. Reno nodded his own head quickly; his trademark smirk found its way instinctively back to his lips as he walked on again; content that she wasn't going to cry.

"Okay…you're late. Want to explain why?"

"Bite me!"

She obviously didn't know him; if she did, then she would have thought twice about her choice of words. He could have an extremely perverted sense of humour when it suited him, and tended to embrace it most times. Yuffie had fallen victim to it several times; the ninja had her own array of smart comments and abusive nicknames for everyone, but she'd met her match with him.

"Don't tempt me, I might actually do that…Turks' Floor; lounge, Tseng's office, computer labs, lecture rooms for when the recruits arrive. The President's office is on the top floor, it's the only office there. The two floors above this are staff accommodation…you already have a place, right?"

AJ nodded as she struggled to keep up with Reno, trying her best to take in her surroundings and familiarise herself with the layout, the last thing she wanted to do was get lost. She had her own apartment; she'd moved to Edge about a week ago, Reeve had helped her find a place and move her stuff. She still had to get used to the different shops and bars in the city, but she'd get there eventually.

The corridors were easy to traverse and navigate right now, but Reno knew the place would become a cluttered maze once the recruits arrived. It had been the same back in Midgar; the recruits had stood around like obstacles in the corridors, either too lost to know where they were or too scared to ask for help. He was willing to bet she'd ditch the heels within the first week. Reno hid another smirk as he thought of the running AJ would end up doing between the different departments of Shinra; he didn't envy her job in the least.

He pushed through a final door, holding it open as he spoke, allowing for AJ to duck beneath his arm and garner a look at her new workplace.

"And finally, your office. You're above the other secretaries and receptionists we have already; their offices are at the end of this corridor. Files are on your desk. If you get stuck with anything, send me a message and I might help you if I find out why you were late."

AJ took a breath, only just catching herself before answering; he was persistent, she'd give him that much. But now it was a matter of principle. It was no great secret why she'd been late, Reeve had known why, and Rufus Shinra was aware of it too, but that didn't mean she intended on telling every guy she met why. If he really wanted to know, he'd find out pretty soon through gossip, but she wasn't going to tell him.

"Nice try, but you're not going to catch me that easily."

"I'll find out one way or another."

Reno shrugged as he leaned against the door; watching her stroll around her new office. Bumpy start aside, she seemed easy to get on with. At least he could have a laugh with her, he'd had to show one of the receptionists around last week and the woman had nearly drove him up the wall; said woman was no convinced that he was _bad news_ as she'd put it.

AJ seemed a lot more sociable than the old bat anyhow, not to mention better in the looks department. Reno took a breath to speak as curiosity crept over him; she might be hell-bent on keeping her _other responsibilities _a secret, but she could at least throw him a bone. Why bother moving all the way from Kalm to Edge because your boss recommended you? The President could recommend him to Reeve, that didn't mean he'd just uproot himself and go play lapdog for the WRO commander. He'd been with Shinra too long to jump ship now, so why had AJ moved on the basis of a job offer? She obviously didn't have any family left in Kalm, he knew that now and knew to tip-toe around that subject in the future, but wouldn't that be more of a reason to stay back in Kalm? Reno shook his head, he was thinking awfully hard about something that had nothing to do with him, but curiosity had always been his downfall.

"Does your boyfriend work in Edge too?"

AJ tucked more loose strands of hair behind her ear as she looked back up to face the Turk, he was beyond persistent. But not matter how much she wanted to take offence at his prying, his smirk negated it. The young woman merely smiled as answered; still glancing round the large office.

"Does your girlfriend work in Edge too?"

Reno nodded; acknowledging her comment. It was a good answer, but he didn't have time to play the guessing game, his phone was buzzing in his pocket as matters stood; it as either Tseng or Elena. Rude never called more than once. At least when the recruits arrived and were weeded down, they'd have some other people to share the duties with and reduce the work-load. Reno flashed his smirk once more; backing out of AJ's office as he pulled his phone from the pocket of pants.

"Ha…which girlfriend?"

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_**A/N: Thanks for reading :)**_


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